Google Acquires VirusTotal, Online Antivirus Scanner

Google has acquired VirusTotal, an online scanner to detect viruses, trojans and other malware. The terms of the acquisition or the amount hasn’t been revealed yet, but it isn’t likely to be much. Following the acquisition, VirusTotal will be able to leverage Google’s massive infrastructure to improve the quality of its service and scale up operations.

We aren’t sure how exactly Google plans to integrate VirusTotal’s online offering into its search feature. For now, VirusTotal has announced that it will continue to operate independently and maintain its existing partnerships.

Here’s the official press release by VirusTotal:

“Our goal is simple: to help keep you safe on the web. And we’ve worked hard to ensure that the services we offer continually improve. But as a small, resource-constrained company, that can sometimes be challenging. So we’re delighted that Google, a long-time partner, has acquired VirusTotal. This is great news for you, and bad news for malware generators, because:

The quality and power of our malware research tools will keep improving, most likely faster; and
Google’s infrastructure will ensure that our tools are always ready, right when you need them.

VirusTotal will continue to operate independently, maintaining our partnerships with other antivirus companies and security experts. This is an exciting step forward. Google has a long track record working to keep people safe online and we look forward to fighting the good fight together with them.”